general information
on the radio systemCote d'Ivoire was
once the West African success story, with a roaring economy and a stable
political framework. Today, Ivory Coast's media mirrors the deep divisions
between government and rebel positions. Currently, the FM broadcasts of
state-run Radio Cote d'Ivoire can only be heard in the government-controlled
south of the country. The rebels who have occupied the north since civil
war broke out in September 2002, have meanwhile taken over several FM radio
stations in their own area.While international satellite transmissions
of the Ivorian state television station Channel One started on the
Intelsat satellite in April 2004, the transmissions are not available terrestrially
in the north and northwest of the country. Technical evaluation have revealed
that the cost of damage to the nine stations in rebel-controlled areas
is practically the same as the cost of rehabilitating the remaining ten
centres in the government-held zone.

In the annual worldwide index of press
freedom published by Reporters Without Borders in October 2004,Côte d'Ivoire was listed as no.
149 of 167 countries surveyed.

international
radio broadcasting to the regionAlthough three
international broadcasters - Radio France International, the BBC and Africa
No. 1 - are present on local frequencies, there have been several interruptions
in the transmissions since the armed rebellion in 2002. Supporters of President
Laurent Gbagbo have frequently accused the broadcasters of complicity with
the rebels. The peace accords signed in January 2003 specifically mentioned
the immediate re-establishment of free transmission of international radio
and TV stations. On the contrary, the stations were for example silenced
on 25-30 March, at a period of increased tensions in Abidjan. A technical
source in Abidjan claimed on that occasion that the transmitter site had
been damaged by unknown individuals.

the conflictIvory Coast is still split in two, despite
a formal end to the civil war year in January 2003 . The UN has more than
6,000 peacekeepers in the country, but the planned disarmament of
the rebels is yet to start. Disarmament was due to begin in August
2003, but the rebels refused to lay down their weapons until Gbagbo would
implement political reforms stipulated in peace agreement and give efffective
power to the coalition cabinet headed by independent Prime Minister Seydou
Diarra.His government now exists more in theory
than in practice since 26 of its 41 ministers walked out at the end of
March and Gbagbo has since sacked three of them. Diplomatic and government
sources said the ministerial sackings in late May nearly triggered Diarra's
resignation. The international community eventually persuaded Diarra not
to quit, but the prime minister said in a leaked letter to the president
that he would refuse to convene any further cabinet meetings until Gbagbo
resolved the political crisis. Diplomats said Diarra was continuing behind-the-scenes
efforts to try to get Gbagbo and the G-7 opposition alliance talking to
each other again.Gbagbo's "Young Patriots" accuse the United
Nations and France, which maintains a separate 4,000-strong peacekeeping
force in Cote d'Ivoire, of not doing enough to persuade the rebel forces
to disarm. Im May, thousands demonstrated in Abidjan wearing blue plastic
bags and buckets on their heads in mockery of the blue helmets worn by
UN peacekeeping troops. In June, gangs of Young Patriots smashed 38 UN
vehicles in the city in a more violent round of anti-UN protests.A mission from the UN Security Council
was to visit Cote d'Ivoire for talks with all the main players in the country,
which has been split in two since the outbreak of a civil war in September
2002.

ONUCI FMIn early June 2004,
a UN-team set up a radio station to support the cause of the United Nations
Mission in Cote díIvoire (ONUCI). ONUCI FM was established under
the auspices of a UN Security Council resolution in February 2004
which authorised the creation of a 6,240-strong UN peacekeeping force in
Cote d'Ivoire.The station was meant to follow the example of similar radio
stations of UN peacekeeping missions in other countries. The UN peacekeeping
operations in Sierra Leone and Democratic Republic of Congo operate their
own radio stations to provide an independent source of news and to broadcast
programmes that promote peace and reconciliation. A similar radio station
is currently being set up in Liberia.

The team setting up ONUCI FM, some of whom
previously worked on UN radio stations in the Balkans, said the new radio
station would be mainly staffed by Ivorian journalists.They would report
on efforts to promote peace, national reconciliation and cohesion, the
humanitarian situation, the work of local and international organisations
involved in efforts to end the 21 month-old conflict. However, the 24-hour
radio station would also carry music cultural, sports and entertainment
programmes, the team members said. Initially, ONUCI FM was to broadcast
on 95.3FM in Abidjan, but within a few weeks its broadcasts were to be
relayed by satellite to several towns in the interior: to Daloa, a government-held
town in western Cote d'Ivoire, and the rebel-held cities of Bouake, Korhogo
and Man in the north.

The proposed launch of the station coincided
with the United Nations coming under increasing attackfrom militia-style youth groups in Abidjan
that support President Laurent Gbagbo. President Laurent Gbagbo's cabinet
has repeatedly accused the UN of being soft on rebels, who hold the north
of the country. The president only softened his voice after a private meeting
with the UN secretary general. The two men met in New York on 11 June,
but UN sources in New York and Abidjan told IRIN that little had been achieved
in the encounter.Annan talked bluntly about the danger
of Gbagbo's peace agreement with rebels occupying the north
of the country falling apart, they added.

Row over UN radio
in Ivory CoastThe Ivorian National Audiovisual Communications
Council said ONUCI FM was a "pirate station". The UN radio station was
also dismissed as a "propaganda station" by Mr Gbagbo's ruling Ivorian
Popular Front. According to the media regulator, ONUCI FM had not filed
the proper paperworks and has not been authorized to use a frequency band
on Abidjan's FM dial. UN officials claim ONUCI FM does not need to formally
apply for broadcasting rights.UN spokesman Jean-Victor Nkolo said the
station would promote peace and reconciliation in the divided country.
"I really don't see what the problem is," Mr Nkolo was quoted as saying
by Reuters news agency. "There is a [UN] radio station for every peacekeeping
operation. It exists in Sierra Leone and Liberia. It's meant to assist
the peace process," he said. The UN spokesman added that the launch of
the 24-hour station - to be called Frequence Paix, or Peace Frequency -
was included in the UN Security Council resolution that authorized the
peacekeeping operation.After a crisis summit in Accra at the
end of July to put the country's January 2003 peace agreement back on track,
the authorities finally gave permission for ONUCI FM to start broadcasting
on frequencies originally reserved for state broadcast Radio Television
Ivoirienne. Following two months of delaying tactics by the government,
ONUCI FM was to start broadcasting on Tuesday, 10 August 2004. Finally
residents in Abidjan had to wait until Friday, 13 August, to tune in to
ONUCI FM. The new station launched with a speech by UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan.Jean Victor Nkolo, the official spokesman
of the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (ONUCI), told IRIN that the
Abidjan-based radio station plans to reach out to the rebel-held towns
of Bouake, Korhogo and Man in the north of Côte d'Ivoire, as well
other towns in the government-held south. ONUCI FM would thus become the
only radio station broadcasting nationwide in the divided country, since
it erupted into civil war in September 2002. Diplomats have frequently
lamented the partisan nature of Côte d'Ivoire's local media, particularly
the country's newspapers, most of which are closely aligned with particular
political interest groups. They have often been accused of whipping up
political and ethnic hatred rather than promoting national reconciliation.Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/world/africa/3817357.stm

Although ONUCI FM went on the air, its
relations with the Conseil national de la communication audiovisuelle
remain strained. In a press release (26 August 2004), the Ivorian regulatory
body complained of irregularities in the convention providing for the provisional
transfer of the 96 FM frequency to the United Nations operation in the
Ivory Coast, which was drawn up by Radiotélévision Ivoirienne
(RTI) in order to allow it broadcast. One of the complaints relates to
the fact that "the new station has been transmitting since 13 August 2004
whereas its promoters have not yet signed the general convention and the
specification for use of the frequency".Fraternité-Matin, 3.9.2004 www.fratmat.net/content/detail.php?cid=0Co4593q3cD>
/ 4.9.2004 <www.fratmat.net/content/detail.php?cid=rzH4WdoesKj>

November 2004
- renewed fightingFor one-and-a-half years, Cote d'Ivoire
enjoyed a ceasefire until 4 November 2004 when Ivorian troops from the
government-controlled south launched an offensive on the rebel-held north.
On 6 November loyalist of President Gbagbo began rampaging and looting
their way through Abidjan's streets, angry at former colonial power France,
which in retaliation for a deadly airstrike on one of its bases, wiped
out almost the entire Ivorian airforce. "Hate messages" against French
people and other foreigners filled the air waves and French troops fired
into the air to keep back thousands of demonstrators in the streets.Logistical problems, looting and theft
as well as personal threats against foreign aid officials and volunteers
stopped most of the aid work. The United Nations has moved to Phase Four,
the last phase before evacuation. Agencies have suspended missions in the
field and many staff are sheltering at UN military bases, Ibrahima Barry,
an OCHA official in Abidjan said.

Reporters Without Borders has welcomed
a statement from Ivorian president, Laurent Gbagbo, condemning the ransacking
of opposition and independent newspaper offices on 4 November 2004 and
the opening of an investigation to punish those responsible. But the worldwide
press freedom organisation called on him to go further to ensure these
newspapers can circulate freely again and to restore order within the state-owed
media.Further details: www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=25882

Seizing control of the state media was
one of the linchpins of President Laurent Gbagbo's failed bid to
recover all of Cote d'Ivoire's territory. In just one morning, on
4 November, supporters of the president and his party succeeded in hijacking
Radiotélévision ivoirienne (RTI) and Radio Côte
d'Ivoire (RCI). A new staff of presenters and journalists ready to
take editorial orders was put in place.Further details: www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=26049

By décret n° 2004-678, the Radiodiffusion
Télévision ivoirienne (RTI, publique) lost its status as
"public limited company" (société anonyme) und was reverted
to a "state company" (société d'État), with the government
now retaking official control of the radio and television services. Once
more, it is the State that holds the entire capital of the RTI, set at
6 billion CFA francs. This change in status - which followed on from thelaw of 14 December 2004 concerning broadcasting
and the Ohada Treaty - is at least the third that the RTI has experienced
over the last six years. Before October 2003, the RTI had been a "semi-public
company of a particular type", a status which it had known for the first
time some ten years earlier.The RTI's operational regulations have
also been modified starting with the composition of its board of administrators.
Of a total of twelve administrators appointed with a renewable mandate
of three years, the government (presidency, prime ministry and ministries)
appoints nine; however, none of the three remaining administrators may
be elected to the chair of the board. It is this same board of administrators
that appoints the managing director and that also has power to dismiss
him/her at any time.Administering the "new RTI" is the joint
responsibility of the Ministries of Communications (for technical supervision)
and the Economy (for financial supervision). All of the main statutory,
strategic and financialdecisions must have the prior approval
of the appropriate ministry.

By presidential decrees published respectively
on 4 and 5 January 2005, new administrators were appointed to the Ivorian
national broadcasting corporation with a renewable mandate of three years
and the election of Oulaï Siéné to the chair of the
Board of Administration (PCA) was ratified.These appointments were preceded by that
of Yacouba Kébé to the post of managing director, officially
with effect from 3 January 2005. Yacouba Kébé already held
the position of managing director of the RTI when he was ousted from the
job on 4 November 2004 by Jean-Paul Dahily, himself a former manager of
the RTI and close confident of President Laurent Gbagbo. "For security
reasons", the full return of Mr Kébé to his post only became
effective on 10 January.It's true to say that in the Ivory Coast
the RTI is an emotive, if not a conflictual subject. On 6 January 2005,
deputies from the three opposition parliamentary groups (PDCI/RDA, UDPCI
and Solidarité) disseminated a press release condemning "the taking
hostage and the muzzling by the Presidential camp and the FPI regime of
the State media".Opposition groupings complain that radio and television
are being used in a way that contravenes the provisions of the media law
aswell as the spirit of the Marcoussis and Accra peace agreements. These
documents stress the importance of impartiality and neutrality on the part
of the public service media. The only point on which there was unanimity
was the new status of the RTI (once more a public company), which was approved
by the Parliament in December 2004.

Ivorian journalists
cross over the front linesThe National Association of Journalists
of the Ivory Coast ("Union nationale des journalistes de Côte d'Ivoire",
the UNJCI) recently organized a seminar bringing together journalists who
are close to the presidential camp along with others who support the "Forces
nouvelles". The meeting took place in Yamoussoukro on 29 and 30 January
last. It brought together, on the onehand, journalists from "Notre Voie",
the "Courrier d'Abidjan" and "Le Temps" (presidential side) and, on the
other hand, participants from "TV Notre Patrie", "RTV Denguélé",
"Tambour" and "Liberté" (Forces nouvelles). The public servicewas
represented by "Fraternité-Matin" and Ivorian radio and television.
The UN radio station, ONUCI FM, also took part.The seminar looked at the issues of conflict
coverage and journalists' safety. It was facilitated by a former British
soldier. Political issues were excluded from the agenda.Fraternité-Matin, 4/2/05 <www.fratmat.net/content/detail.php?cid=ksHe2aegg9t>

Rising tensions
as French peacekeeping mission expiresIn March 2005, demonstrations in Ivory
Coast were being held on both sides of the cease-fire line that has separated
the rebel-held north and government-controlled south since a failed coup
attempt sparked a brief civil war in late 2002. Supporters of the president
kept calling for 5,000 French peacekeepers toleave, while protesters in the north wanted
the force's mandate, which expires next month, to be renewed. President
Laurent Gbagbo's supporters in the south say French forces favor the rebels
and are refusing to disarm them. French President Jacques Chirac said in
February that the French military will not stay where it is not wanted.
He said he wants the support of all parties, including the Ivorian government,
if the mandate is to be renewed.

Warring Sides
Agree to End HostilitiesIn joint statement April 6, 2005, civil
war foes rejected use of force as a means to resolve their differences.
After four days of talks the four main political leaders in Ivory Coast
signed an agreement in which they said they would immediately and finally
cease all hostilities. President Laurent Gbagbo, rebel leader Guillaume
Soro, former President Henei Konan Bedie, and opposition leader Alassane
Ouattara also stipulated in the agreement that presidential elections must
be held in October 2005 and that these should be immediately followed by
legislative elections.South African President Thabo Mbeki, who
has been mediating the talks at the behest of the African Union, told reporters
that the commanders of the government and rebel forces will meet in Bouake
on April 14 to discuss disarmament and the formation of a national army.
The agreement comes four months after a fragile cease-fire was broken by
government forces in November with a series of bombing raids and an eight-month
impasse in the peace initiative launched by Mr. Mbeki. He was asked by
the African Union to intervene when several earlier peace initiatives failed
to completely halt the civil war which began in 2002.

ONUCI FM extends
coverage in the north of Côte d'IvoireOn 5 April 2005, ONUCI FM extended its
coverage to Korhogo, in the north of the country. The United Nations radio
in Côte d'Ivoire uses 95.3 MHz – the same frequency as in Bouaké
and Daloa. ONUCI FM is a general news station created by the United Nations
to promote peace and reconciliation in the country. The station broadcasts
political, economic, cultural and sports programmes in French, 24 hours
a day. Programmes in all the national languages are also planned. ONUCI
FM team comprises 30 journalists and technicians as well as a dozen correspondents
based in different Ivorian cities. The radio was created by Security Council
Resolution 1528 and started broadcasting on 13 August 2004 in Abidjan on
96 MHz. It is currently in the process of achieving total national coverage
with the installation of a new transmitter, which will cover Yamoussoukro,
Man, Odienné, Daoukro, Bondoukou, San Pedro and Duékoué.
(Source: UN Mission in Côte d'Ivoire)

Côte d'Ivoire:
Elections designed to restore peace set for 30 OctoberCote d'Ivoire's government has announced
that a first round of long-awaited presidential elections, designed to
bring peace back to the divided West African nation, will be held on 30
October. "The next presidential elections in Cote d'Ivoire will take place,
for the first round, on Sunday 30 October 2005," government spokesman Hubert
Oulai said on state television on 28 April 2005. Hopes that peace might
finally return to the world's top cocoa producer, which has been split
in two for almost three years, have been growing since a summit in the
South African capital, Pretoria earlier in April.The election date announcement came hot
on
the heels of a decision by Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo to bow to international
pressure and allow his main rival Alassane Ouattara to run against him
in October's polls.The exclusion of Ouattara -- a former prime minister
who now heads the opposition Rally of the Republicans party -- from the
presidential elections in 2000 is considered to be one of the root causes
behind a failed rebel attempt to topple Gbagbo in September 2002 that ushered
in the civil war.The constitution stipulated that all presidential candidates
must have two Ivorian parents, and Ouattara's opponents say his father
was born in neighbouring Burkina Faso.Gbagbo for months insisted that a referendum
was needed to change the rules governing who could stand for election but
he made an about-turn following a request from South African President
and international mediator Thabo Mbeki.Ouattara cautiously praised Gbagbo's
decision to let him stand in October's polls as "an incontestable first
step toward democracy in Cote d'Ivoire", but warned that this did not mean
that all problemswere solved. In New York, UN secretary-general
Kofi Annan applauded the breakthrough, "The Secretary-General welcomes
this development while stressing that it is vital that the parties take
all necessary steps to ensure that the elections are free, fair and transparent
and conform to international standards," his office said in a statement.And with the election date now set, arrangements
for allowing Cote d'Ivoire's 17 million people to go to the polls must
begin in earnest. Diplomats say that with only six months to go, and the
nation still divided, time to organise free and fair elections is tight.
Gbagbo ordered the National Statistics Institute (INS) to start compiling
electoral lists and sorting out voter cards in preparation for the polls,
as has been the procedure for over 25 years. However, critics say voter
registration should be carried out by the Independent Electoral Commission
(CEI). The INS, they say, is headed by a close Gbagbo ally and impartiality
cannot be guaranteed. Opposition leader Ouattara told Radio France Internationale
this week that it would be wrong to charge the INS with the job and said
it should be done by the CEI in cooperation with the UN mission in Cote
d'Ivoire (ONUCI).(UN Integrated Regional Information Network
29 April 2005)

Ivory Coast President
Opens Election to AllOn a televised speech on 26 April, President
Laurent Gbagbo promised to allow all candidates to run in a presidential
election later this year Laurent Gbagbo opened the speech with an attack
on the rebels that have occupied the northern half of the country for more
than two years. He said the nation had suffered aggression at their hands
and that despite previous peace deals they had refused to disarm.In a surprise move, President Gbagbo also
addressed the candidacy of Alassane Ouattara. The popular northern opposition
leader was excluded from running in the election that brought Mr. Gbagbo
to power in 2000. Mr. Gbagbo said that, for the 2005 election only, he
would allow Mr. Ouattara to participate overruling a controversial article
in Ivory Coast's constitution concerning nationality requirements At peace
talks in South Africa's administrative capital Pretoria earlier in April,
President Mbeki asked Mr. Gbagbo to use special constitutional powers to
allow all signatories to previous peace deals to contest the presidential
election set for October. President Gbagbo had previously said that constitutional
article 48, which allows the head of the state to make decrees when the
nation's integrity is threatened, did not apply to the civil war.The move came as the United Nations Security
Council was convening in New York to decide whether to grant a request
for additional troops for its peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast. Around
6,000 U.N. peacekeepers and another 4,000 French soldiers are currently
in Ivory Coast. Most patrol a cease-fire line between the rebel held north
and west and the government controlled south.

President of Ivorian
Radio and Television reinstalledIn the Ivory Coast, Maurice Bandaman,
the president of the board of RTI (Ivorian Radio and Television Broadcasting
Corporation) was reinstalled on 10 May in the presence of Issa Diakité,
Minister of Communication ad interim. This reinstallation of the President
of the board is in line with the Pretoria agreement signed the 6th April
2005. The Young Patriots occupied RTI, a public service media during the
launch of the "Restore Dignity" operation by the FANCI (Ivorian National
Armed Forces). The former management team was dismissed and replaced by
a new one led by the former Minister of Justice Oulaï Siéné.
Issa Diakité, Minister of Communication ad interim said that the
RTI will be airing all over the country and will be a peacekeeping and
harmony mass media. (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs)

January 2006: Hate broadcasts again
spurring attacks on UNIvory Coast radio stations are inciting
people to arm themselves and attack the United Nations, the world body
said yesterday, calling on the government to immediately halt the hate
broadcasts. "This is unacceptableand must cease immediately," UN chief
spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, calling the broadcasts "particularly
disturbing" as a wave of attacks on UN peacekeepers went into a third day.
Some members of the UN Security Council, meanwhile, said the time had come
to impose sanctions on Ivory Coast government or rebel leaders who were
blocking the peace process. The 15-nation council authorized sanctions,
including travel bans and asset freezes, over a year ago but has yet to
apply them to any individuals, fearful this could set back peace efforts
more than help them. The council plans to meet to discuss the crisis in
Ivory Coast for the second time in a week today, and is expected to issue
a statement giving a final green light to sanctions, council diplomats
said. (Radio Netherlands Media Network 19 January 2006)

RSF says siege of state broadcaster
in Ivory Coast has endedPress freedom watchdog Reporters Without
Borders (RSF) says it has learned that the siege of the Ivory Coast's state
broadcaster RadioTélévision Ivoirienne (RTI) by several hundred
Young Patriots was lifted on 21 January 2006 night. RSF says most employees
were able to return to their posts and talks are under way to "identify
the lessons to be drawn" from the events of the past few days, a source
close to the management said.Some 300 supporters of President Laurent
Gbagbo known as Young Patriots overran the RTI building on 18 January and
forced technicians to broadcast calls for people "to take to the streets
to liberate the country." They then stationed themselves outside the RTI
building, located in Cocody district of Abidjan. They were pledging to
stay there until the UN peacekeepers and the French Licorne peacekeeping
force left the country. After Young Patriot leader Charles Blé Goudé
gave his followers the order to end the demonstrations, the barricades
and roadblocks throughout the greater Abidjan area have been gradually
lifted and the groups have dispersed. Throughout the past few days, Côte
d’Ivoire’s journalists have had to work under a constant threat of violence.
Some went into hiding. Others were beaten or threatened by demonstrators.
(Reporters Without Borders)

UN radio station in the Ivory Coast
expands coverageThe United Nations Peacekeeping Mission
in the Ivory Coast (ONUCI) has announced that its radio station - ONUCI
FM - can now be heard in the Bandama region. ONUCI FM, which provides general
information, was created by the mission to promote peace and national reconciliation.
Since 15 August 2004, it has been broadcasting news and feature programmes
on politics, economics and culture in French. Broadcasts in national languages
will be launched soon. ONUCI FM's team currently comprises about 30 journalists
and technicians and 10 correspondents in main Ivorian towns. (United Nations
News Service, March 13, 2006)

Ivory Coast: Ban on FM broadcasting
by RFI lifted after 10 monthsThe National Council for Broadcast Communication
(CNCA) gave its permission on 12 May 2006 for French public broadcaster
Radio France Internationale (RFI) to resume broadcasting in Côte
d’Ivoire on FM frequencies. In return, RFI undertook to quickly strengthen
its regional coverage, pay the CNCA 9 million CFA francs (14,000 euros)
and "adhere to ethical criteria and professional conduct in its news coverage
in Côte d’Ivoire." The CNCA suspended RFI’s broadcasts on 15 July
2005, claiming that its coverage of Ivorian events was "unprofessional
and unbalanced." RFI’s Abidjan bureau has been closed ever since its correspondent,
Jean Hélène, was shot in the head and killed by a policeman
on 20 October 2003. (Reporters Without Borders)

August 2006: ONUCI
FM broadcasts programmes in local languagesONUCI FM, the United Nations radio in
Côte d'Ivoire, started broadcasting programmes in five local languages
on 1 August 2006. News and information items on Côte d'Ivoire will
be broadcast five times a week in Baoulé, Bété, Malinké,
Wé and Yacouba to ONUCI FM listeners. Through these programmes in
local languages, the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI)
hopes its message of peace and reconciliation will reach the majority of
the population with a view to sharing their daily concerns.ONUCI FM, which broadcasts general information,
was set up on 15th August 2004 by UNOCI with the aim of promoting peace
and national reconciliation. It broadcasts political, economic, cultural
and sports programmes in French. Created by Security Council Resolution
1528, the UN radio first started broadcasting its programmes in Abidjan
on 96FM but can now be heard in Daloa, Duékoué, Yamoussoukro,
Bouaké, Odienné, Korhogo, San Pedro, Man, Bangolo, Zuénoula,
Daoukro, Bouna, Bondoukou, Blolequin and Guiglo. It hopes eventually to
be heard all over Côte d'Ivoire. (Source: United Nations Operation
in Côte d'Ivoire)